Heaven is for Real

So I finally sat down and read Heaven is For for Real by Todd Burp. It was the #1 New York Times Best Seller which means a lot of non-believers read it as well.

Ofcourse I approached the book with a healthy amount of skepticism. There are a lot of people out there who have claimed to have died or slipped from consciousness and gone to heaven and even sometimes hell. Some reports align with Scripture and some don't. That's why one must be really cautious and test these things against Scripture and your own spirit.

I sat down and read it cover to cover in a matter of mere hours. I was enthralled.. It brought me to tears and even laughter numerous times. This story is absolutely incredible from the perspective of a 4 year old. Even if you don't believe in God, this book is definitely an interesting read. Colten recalled meeting his miscarried sister (which no one told him about) and meeting his great grandfather who had died a quarter of a century before he was even born, etc.

Here are some quotes from the book about God, heaven, etc. that I especially loved:

Recounting being at the hospital when he was in surgery for an emergency appendectemy, Colten said "That's where the angels sang to me." When asked about this he said, "Dad, Jesus had the angels sing to me because I was so scared. They made me feel better... I was sitting in Jesus' lap. " He even told him what his dad and mom were doing while he was in surgery, information he couldn't have known unless he truly left his body.

When later asked to describe Jesus he said, "Jesus has markers. And he has brown hair and he has hair on his face. And his eyes.. oh, Dad, his eyes are so pretty! He had purple on. His clothes were white, but it was purple from here to here (sash). Jesus was the only one in heaven who had purple on. And he had this gold thing on his head and it had this diamond thing in the middle of it and it was kind of pink. And he had markers, Dad."

The father still didn't know what "markers" was referring to and why he mentioned it first. So he asked "you said Jesus had markers. You mean like markers that you color with?"
Colton said, "Yeah, like colors. He had colors on him."
"Well, what color are Jesus' markers?"
"Red, Daddy. Jesus has red markers on him."
"Where are Jesus' markers?"
(he pointed to palms and the tops of both of his feet)

He was referring to where the nails were driven into Jesus' hands and feet during the crucifixion.

He also said some things I definitely was not expecting.. like "Everybody's got wings." and "All the people have a light above their head." and "People in heaven wore different colors there than the angels did."

He was asked to described God's throne and he said, "It was big, Dad... really, really big, because God is the biggest one there is. And he really really loves us, Dad. You can't belieeeve how much he loves us!"
He also said, "Jesus' chair is right next to his Dad's!" and said he was on the right side of God.
His dad asked who sat on the other side of God, and he said "Gabriel is, He's really nice." Which actually kind of makes sense from the story of John the Baptist and the moment when Gabriel arrived to deliver the news of John the Baptist's birth: "I am Gabriel. I stand in the presence of God.."

He also described the Holy Spirit:
"I sat by God the Holy Spirit. Did you know that God is three persons, Dad? He's kind of blue."
He also said the Holy Spirit "shoots down power" when we need it.

He described the gates of heaven, the city itself and all the many animals. He also never stopped proclaiming how much Jesus loves the children.

He even saw Satan but to this day won't describe him because it is too gruesome.

He also said, "Dad, nobody's old in heaven."

He also said that he saw Mary (Jesus' mother) kneeling before the throne of God and at other times, standing beside Jesus. "She still loves him like a mom."

Then towards the end there is a description of Armageddon. We shouldn't forget that time is completely different in heaven. He said, "Jesus wins. He throws Satan into hell. I saw it." He goes on to describe a major battle with "monsters" and angels. "There's going to be a war, and it's going to destroy the world. Jesus and the angels and the good people are going to fight against Satan and the monsters and the bad people. I saw it."

Throughout the years, his parents would make a game out of pointing out pictures of Jesus and asking him if that was a close representation of what Jesus really looked like. He always found something wrong with every picture. Well there is another extraordinary girl named Akiane who has numerous visions of heaven and paints what she sees. She was even featured on CNN. Her paintings are at a professional level and she started as a little girl. She drew a painting of Jesus when she was only 8 which I've put below. She said he is so so beautiful. Colton's father showed him this painting and he stopped in his tracks and said very matter of fact, "Dad, that one's right."

you can check her out here: http://www.artakiane.com/home

Anyway, that was just a taste of the entirety of the book. I highly recommend it, at least to read it for yourselves and make your own judgment. I was really blessed by it.